Microsoft prepares to unleash Office 2016 full desktop apps on Windows Store?

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It seems that Microsoft is getting ready to push out a Project Centennial version of the Office 2016 suite on the Windows Store – or at least, a test version is now available, which certainly points to the possibility of this happening before long.

Project Centennial focuses on allowing developers to convert their Win32 desktop apps to ones which are compatible with the Windows Store and optimised for Windows 10.

So, in other words, you'll soon (in theory) be able to download the full desktop apps for Office on the store (as opposed to the touch-focused Office apps), and the process will be simplicity itself, as WinBeta notes.

With one click, the entire suite will be downloaded swiftly, installed and ready to run, no mess and no fuss.

Not functional yet

At the moment, the apps are apparently listed on the store, but they're not functional – this is clearly labelled a test version, and while it will install, when you launch any of the apps, nothing happens. So there's not much point downloading it now, and indeed some folks who have installed this version have reported trouble with uninstalling it.

We'd leave it alone, then, but this is exciting because it shows that hopefully the full implementation of the Office suite on the Windows Store will soon be live. Although there is no guarantee of that, of course. Redmond is only playing at testing right now.

Microsoft is naturally enough pushing the Windows Store (and indeed Windows 10 in general), and earlier this month introduced the 'Built For Windows 10' label which highlights those apps specifically built as universal apps for its newest OS.

• Microsoft Office 2016 vs Office 365 vs Office Online

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